So you have a business. You use social media. And maybe (hopefully) you have a website. But you aren’t sure that email marketing is right for you or maybe you don’t even know what it is. Let’s cut right through that pronto.

First things first – what is email marketing? Well, in the most basic sense, it is something wonderful that can help your business grow and something you needed yesterday. But today will work, too.

Let me ask you this – do you get a little frustrated when you post on social media and no one responds or you reach 5 whole people? Yeah, I getcha. Let’s fix it.

While social media is a must and has its own superpowers sometimes reaching an audience is not one of them. Well, not without paying for an ad and you probably don’t want to pay for an ad every single time you post. But you need your customers to hear what you are saying and see what you are selling, right? Enter email marketing. Hello there, email marketing. Where have you been all my business?

Email marketing gives you a way to reach your customers without hoping and crossing your fingers they will see your post.  If you aren’t convinced already, I am going to tell your 3 reasons why email marketing will work for your business.

It entices new customers. 

Say you have a beautiful website and you have a visitor to your site but they aren’t really sure they want to buy from you. But all of the sudden, they see something on your site that says if they sign up they will get 10% off their first purchase.  Who doesn’t love discounts? So it helps customers get a little bit of extra persuading to shop with your business. If they sign up, they give you their email address and you give them a discount (or some other special something) and a beautiful new baby friendship is formed.

It reminds customers your business exists.

Once a customer makes a purchase with you – unless you live next door to them – there is a good chance they might forget about your business. It is always nice to show up somewhere they can see you,  remind them you are still in business, and you are ready to do business with them again. As discussed above, chances are they might not see your post on social media. So, if you have a customer that is on your email list, you have an easy direct way to get in contact with them again. With email marketing, you can reach out to your customer and help your new baby friendship start growing into a little more of a connection.

It’s a great way to nurture the relationship with your customer.

Email marketing is not just so you can throw sales and promotions in the face of your customer. Truth be told, I don’t want anyone throwing things in my face. Unless it’s money. Or free cake. So, there are probably some things you can throw at your customer without them getting irritated and ending your friendship. When you have an email list, you can send love, and lovely things that have nothing to do with making a sale. And that is a beautiful thing. No matter what type of business you are in you can find something to send your customer without trying to sell them every time. It just takes a little bit of creativity and research.

What I use and Why

I started out years ago on Mailchimp. Mostly because it was free and it felt like a good starting place. It was a way too glitchy for my taste and I wanted to be able to do more. From there I moved up to Aweber. It offered better features than Mailchimp and they have good customer service. The interface was a little clunky and they charge for subscribers in a weird way which can quickly add up to more money. So, upon the advice of one of my business besties, I moved over to Convertkit.

I graduated on to Convertkit (affliate link) and fell in love. That’s what I currently use and love. I have used Convertkit for awhile now and I have no complaints. It has a ton of help videos, stellar customer service, and a wide range of features. It is worth every penny and I don’t plan on moving anytime soon.

Until next time,

Kelli

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